Set Identification, etc.

skinnerback

I have several built pieces that came in a bulk purchase I made a while back that I had set aside in hopes of identifying the sets and pulling the missing parts from the loose bulk.  Many of the sets I have been able to identify by pulling a less common piece, checking the Lego ID number and browsing sets that include that part.

I still have a few built pieces that only contain pretty common parts.  I was wondering if anyone knows of a way to query (I love Brickset, but if another site would be better for this specific task) multiple parts and display sets containing all of the "parameter parts."  I figure there may be a lot of sets containing a specific "common" part, but by adding the ability to filter those results by another part or two would be a huge help to narrowing down the list.

LuLego

That’s not as fun... stick some photos on here and let people guess!

CCC

How much patience have you got? You could enter all the parts into rebrickable and it will tell you what sets you can build.

It is probably worth looking through for any stickered parts or checking minifigures (hoping they haven't been taken apart and rebuilt randomly).

skinnerback

CCC said:

How much patience have you got? You could enter all the parts into rebrickable and it will tell you what sets you can build.

It is probably worth looking through for any stickered parts or checking minifigures (hoping they haven't been taken apart and rebuilt randomly).

I have been working towards sorting and making an inventory of all my bricks for that very purpose, but plan to keep the sets together and organizing my extra bricks and incomplete sets.  Once a set is identified it can be sorted and added as a set easier into rebrickable.  The biggest bulk was missing most of the mini figures and I've already identified most of everything with stickers and special prints, etc.

A problem with entering the parts into rebrickable for the specific builds I have questions about is that I only have a section of most of the builds.  They had mostly fallen apart, so it would be a partial listing.

skinnerback

CCC said:

How much patience have you got? You could enter all the parts into rebrickable and it will tell you what sets you can build.

It is probably worth looking through for any stickered parts or checking minifigures (hoping they haven't been taken apart and rebuilt randomly).

I'll do that when I am stuck on something, but I did not want to create a bunch of "What set does this go to" posts.. lol.  I got through most of them yesterday and identified 72 sets that I had partial builds for.  I down to about a gallon and a half zip lock bags of smaller pieces of stuff that will be harder to identify for the lack of special parts.

CCC

skinnerback said:

Once a set is identified it can be sorted and added as a set easier into rebrickable.

My point was that you can also use rebrickable the other way. At the moment you find a set, and enter it and it will add all the parts. The (laborious) alternative is to enter all the spare parts (individually) into rebrickable, and it will tell you what sets you can make. This can help you identify what the sets are.

paul_merton

Look what I just made :D 

http://www.spoofdata.com/setfinder/?id1=6144805

paul_merton

^ hmm, it seems quite effective. Even a couple of seemingly common parts are often enough to narrow down the search space significantly.

paul_merton

e.g. you find the following two parts connected to each other in amongst a massive random joblot:



Type their element IDs into the set finder, and it shows that they must have come from either 31009 or 60098:
http://www.spoofdata.com/setfinder/?id1=4199519&id2=4107637

And looking at the set images on Brickset, it's obvious which one they must have come from.

Or just add a third element and you get a definitive answer:
http://www.spoofdata.com/setfinder/?id1=4199519&id2=4107637&id3=302028

CCC

That is pretty incredible. It is amazing how few sets it could be for just a few common parts. I tried three different 2x1 plates in different colours. Often it is only about 10 sets.

datsunrobbie

This is fantastic. I was able to identify #4120 using just 3 fairly common parts from the bag I picked up at the thrift store last night. This will save hours of searching when trying to identify used sets.

Thank you @paul_merton ! Perhaps you can work something out with @Huw to add this into the Brickset homepage?

stlux

Echoing @datsunrobbie, @Huw might be interested in integrating this to the parts tracking functionality he's planning to add in a future update to the site?

I still have 100+ sets from from my childhood I haven't put back together yet because it's such a daunting/time-consuming task. With your Set Finder function I might actually pick up the courage to have another go at it!

Huw

That's a cool feature and could be replicated here at Brickset pretty easily.

Astrobricks

That sounds awesome! But it's also fun to post a picture on brickset forum and crowdsource the answer :)

paul_merton

^ I did wonder about not publishing it for all to use. Then I could pop up on such threads and earn a reputation as a set identification wizard :D

skinnerback

I've not been able to check the thread for a few days, but wow! Thank you Paul! This is very helpful.

skinnerback

Worked very well for this random vehicle base I had not identified yet. 

4646514
6003941
4560183

“This combination of elements can only have originated from set 42041”

Switchfoot55

Maybe I'm using that tool wrong, but I've yet to have success identifying a set?

I think my issue is getting specific enough with the element number (color as opposed to overall item number). What is the easiest way to nail down the correct number? I realize it's likely staring me in the face.

paul_merton

skinnerback said:

Worked very well for this random vehicle base I had not identified yet. 

4646514
6003941
4560183

“This combination of elements can only have originated from set 42041”

Awesome that's exactly the use case I had in mind!

paul_merton

^ Actually, not sure what 4646514 is as it's not a valid element ID?

So it correctly guessed that it was from #4204 using just two parts! (6003941 and 4560183)

skinnerback

Switchfoot55 said:

Maybe I'm using that tool wrong, but I've yet to have success identifying a set?

I think my issue is getting specific enough with the element number (color as opposed to overall item number). What is the easiest way to nail down the correct number? I realize it's likely staring me in the face.

Yeah, you have to use the more specific element number and not the design number.  The design number only refers to the "shape" or "mold" of the part (this is the number you find on the part.)  The element ID refers to a specific color, print, etc. 

Here is how I've been finding the element ID:
1. Type the PN into Brickset's Parts search. 
2. Locate the correct part and view the parts detail page. 
3. The title will contain the element id.

Example: a white 2x4x1 Roof Tile (18 deg.) is design number 30363 (https://brickset.com/parts/design-30363).  Finding the White one in the results allows me to determine the element number to 414300 (https://brickset.com/parts/4143000/roof-tile-2x4x1-18°)

Bobflip

Hmm, love the concept! Would be great if it could be expanded to use part numbers and selectable colours as well, as I'm having trouble locating the element ID on the first set I tried. I have a Technic set with piece 4442, but that element doesn't show up on Brickset.
I tried going to another set with the same element (8030), but only the part number is shown and not the element ID, and clicking on it takes me to the Rebrickable page. 

Other sets show up ok, but I guess it's the older ones where this can be an issue?

bandit778

@Bobflip
I think the reason part 4442 doesn't show up on Brickset is that the parts inventories on the main site come from Lego themselves and doesn't contain discontinued pieces.
For example #5561 (from 1997) comes with 4 of part 4442 but they also don't show up in the parts inventory. The parts page does have the following stated at the top of the page though.

"According to the set database, this set has 761 parts. The inventory from LEGO.com contains 606 parts. This suggests that the inventory is 79.6%complete." 

Rebrickable should be a good source for finding the discontinued parts ID though.

bandit778

^although apparently not for that part as there are not element ID's listed for the black or grey variants.??

Bobflip

bandit778 said:

@Bobflip
I think the reason part 4442 doesn't show up on Brickset is that the parts inventories on the main site come from Lego themselves and doesn't contain discontinued pieces.
For example #5561 (from 1997) comes with 4 of part 4442 but they also don't show up in the parts inventory. The parts page does have the following stated at the top of the page though.

"According to the set database, this set has 761 parts. The inventory from LEGO.com contains 606 parts. This suggests that the inventory is 79.6%complete." 

Rebrickable should be a good source for finding the discontinued parts ID though.

Nope, wasn't able to find the ID at Rebrickable, nor Bricklink, Peeron or BrickOwl. It's possible I missed something, but I had a reasonable look around all of them.

Astrobricks

skinnerback said:

Worked very well for this random vehicle base I had not identified yet. 

4646514
6003941
4560183

“This combination of elements can only have originated from set 42041”

I think you meant #4204 (4204-1).

bandit778

Nope, wasn't able to find the ID at Rebrickable, nor Bricklink, Peeron or BrickOwl. It's possible I missed something, but I had a reasonable look around all of them.

I noticed that after I'd posted and went and had a look around on Rebrickable. First time I've not found what I was looking for on there (although to be fair I've never looked for stuff that old before).

Bobflip

Yeah, I was pretty surprised not to find the info I wanted! 

skinnerback

paul_merton said:

^ Actually, not sure what 4646514 is as it's not a valid element ID?

So it correctly guessed that it was from #4204 using just two parts! (6003941 and 4560183)

4646512. It’s the same piece as 6003941 except for color. I must have mistyped it when I posted here :)

skinnerback

Astrobricks said:

skinnerback said:

Worked very well for this random vehicle base I had not identified yet. 

4646514
6003941
4560183

“This combination of elements can only have originated from set 42041”

I think you meant #4204 (4204-1).

Yes, that is what I meant. Sorry, I was posting from my phone. 

Cyberdragon

Oh noes! I found a bag of a few small random "spare parts", but some look too important to be spares, including a 1x2 dark stone grey technic brick and a piece of black string. I think they're all from #4957 but I'm not sure since the set finder (above) can't identify all of the parts. I mean, it's to late now, I've dumped them in with the rest of the parts for that set. But still, I would think it could have identified a 4177741!

CCC

paul_merton said:

Look what I just made :D 

http://www.spoofdata.com/setfinder/?id1=6144805

I only recently found out that you can do something similar on bricklink, using the design IDs plus colour, rather than the element IDs. This might help people where they don't want to have to look up all the element IDs but know the design ID.

https://www.bricklink.com/catalogIn.asp?viewMulti=Y

The downside is you can only use up to three parts.